Steps toward healing while grieving

Guest article by James Hall of seniorcarefitness.com for Cherry Carson Church.

Grief is a powerful feeling that needs to be actively dealt with, and it is an emotion associated with death, relationship breakups, moving, or other kinds of loss. While the stress of grief needs to be addressed, it can provide opportunities to start afresh. Achieving small attainable goals and actively working toward healing from the rawness will ensure you take steps towards a stronger version of yourself.

Establish a Routine

Emotions related to grief can be all-encompassing and sap the ability to think clearly. Get a friend or a loved one to help you establish a simple routine. Don’t make the routine overwhelming; instead, make it manageable. Routine can give you strength, and the predictability it provides can bring you comfort.

A routine can be anything from cleaning the house daily or doing a weekly spring clean to going for a walk or to church every morning. Starting a fitness routine can improve your health and mindset and alleviate stress. Even making healthier choices such as taking the stairs or taking a walk can make a positive impact. Once you’ve chosen your routines, write everything down on a calendar, and tick off your accomplishments.

Start a New Hobby

When you have more of a routine and have provided yourself with the stability that brings, it might be worth starting a new hobby. Grief will change you in many ways, but it also creates a canvas for a new beginning. A hobby or sport will make your friendship and support circle bigger and make you feel good about yourself. Getting outdoors can be therapeutic; you can even join a hiking club or attend a game. Sporting activities are great ways to meet new people.

Return to School

Having something to direct your focus and energy can help alleviate your feelings of grief. If you’ve already graduated college, why not pursue an advanced degree? Not only will you learn and apply new skills and information, you’ll be able to improve your employment prospects as well. You can also take professional development courses to improve your existing skill set and advance your career. For example, when you take advantage of an accredited school that has a good course for medical coding you can learn all you need to know about industry-standard coding for medical records. Such a program can be completed totally online and within 30 hours, making this goal very achievable.

Adopt a Pet

Pets require commitment and responsibility, but, as Grief Digest magazine notes, they can bring a world of love to your home. More than anything, pets need your love, and it feels good to redirect your emotions and love toward a loyal companion. Having a sense of responsibility to another living creature can help you through the pain of grief.

Find a Sense of Purpose and Form a Business

Finding a sense of purpose will give you something to look forward to and help keep you motivated. A great idea is to start a new career or build your own business, which can be fulfilling. Write out a business plan and learn how to set up a new company. Your business plan should detail how much funding you’ll need, what market you’re targeting, and which business structure you’re registering as.

MasterClass suggests setting monthly goals of what you’d like to achieve. These goals can be anything from having a website up and running within one month to starting marketing the second month and building a client base the third month.  

Release Your feelings

There are a variety of feelings that come with grief, and those need to be released. A cathartic activity is to put them in writing in a journal. Alternatively, joining a grief support group, learning to meditate, and chatting to close friends and family can help you process. 

Setting Goals Helps With Grief 

Grieving is a natural process, but it’s important to find peace while remembering your loved one. Creating structure and achieving small goals – such as sticking to a routine, taking a professional development course, and adopting a pet – can provide the much-needed freedom to move forward.

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